Bernard Charles Ecclestone began his racing career as a driver in 1958, entering two Grand Prix but failing to qualify for either. No matter: he soon built a career managing other drivers, then teams. By the late 1970s he was selling television rights to the sport, growing to control the administration and logistics of each and every Grand Prix as CEO of the Formula One Group until 2017 when the group was sold to America’s Liberty Media.

While the new owners tried to reach younger audiences with the Netflix show 

– a huge success for the streamer – Ecclestone would go on to serve as chairman emeritus and adviser to the board. Now, at the age of 92, his decades-long relationship with the sport has ended in scandal, with Ecclestone handed a 17-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to fraud.

Ecclestone found himself in hot water after failing to declare the existence of a £400m trust in Singapore. Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, suggested the admission came down to a misunderstanding. Wright told the court the charge stemmed from a meeting in 2015 between Ecclestone and tax officers who asked whether he had further trusts in the UK or elsewhere. Ecclestone had answered “No” but Wright suggested Ecclestone had not known the truth of the position and should have said he was unable to answer. “The funds held there were very substantial and the annual losses and gains were tens and millions of United States dollars. Mr Ecclestone accepts that his answer ‘no’ was misleading,” Wright said.

Ecclestone had been due to stand trial in November after initial denying the charges this August. He changed his plea on Thursday 12 October. The judge, Mr Justice Bryan, pointed to the “undoubted seriousness of your offending” when sentencing Ecclestone. But, given Ecclestone’s age, risk of reoffending and the fact he has a three year old child at home – born weeks before his 90th birthday – the judge handed down a light sentence, with Ecclestone agreeing to pay £652m to HM Revenue and Customs, as well as covering prosecution costs of £74,000. Meanwhile, Ecclestone’s defence told the court that Ecclestone “bitterly regrets the events that led to this criminal trial”.

It isn’t the first time Ecclestone has courted controversy. For decades it was rumoured that he had been a part of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, a rumour Ecclestone claims stems from his acquaintance with the robbery’s getaway driver, Roy James who was also an amateur racing driver. Later, in 2009, it was revealed that Ecclestone had been under investigation by the UK tax authority, having avoided the payment of £1.2bn through a legal tax avoidance scheme. The matter was settled with a payment of £10m in 2008 – chump change considering what the F1 boss was allowed to keep. He also came under fire for comments praising Hitler, and for suggesting that his friend Max Mosley – son of fascist leader Oswald – would make a good prime minister. These are just some of the stand-outs in a controversial life.

Ecclestone’s conviction will not be the end of controversy in Formula One. Far from it. Liberty Media continues to grow the sport, adding more and more races, raising concerns over driver fatigue, and the global warming cost of transporting the teams and infrastructure, as well as of the races themselves.

And, after pushing into football and golf via its bottomless purse, Saudi Arabia has also emerged as a player in the sport. The West Asian nation is hoping to 

 , beginning in the near future, a sign of the country’s increasing influence in sport, and global politics. Detractors say the country is “sportswashing” its human rights records and that organisations like Formula One are complicit: Amnesty International said the 

Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2022 "must not be allowed to cover up

" the country’s violations. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, bottled it by saying drivers should not be held accountable for the host country's human rights issues.

That Ecclestone has got off so lightly after a lifetime of (alleged) dodginess shouldn’t come as a surprise. Formula One continues to grab cash at all costs, with a shiny Netflix show designed to soothe any deeper questions about where this money comes from. At a time when food bank use continues at record rates across the UK, that a billionaire should be allowed a slap on the wrist for hiding £400m feels, slightly, like we aren’t all in quite the same race.

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